Why I’m betting my career on innovation in 2024 (and you should to)
I like new things. New projects, new people, new stories, new ideas. And that’s good, this week especially. Because I’m starting this shiny new year, in a shiny new job.
I’ve joined Flying Cars as Creative Innovation Director and I am pumped to be here. Not only because the team, the role and the clients seem like a dream mix for me, but because the charity sector needs innovation more than ever.
“It’s 2024. We’ve talked about the decline in our key channels for fifteen years.
The world has changed immeasurably - has our fundraising?”
We all know how important change is. The world doesn’t stand still around us. But I know that new things can be hard for a lot of people and, especially, for charities. Most aren’t built for change. They’re the ultimate ‘efficiency engines’, optimising productivity to squeeze the value out of every last penny. And that’s how it should be, right? The problem is, if we don’t leave any room for those all-important ‘new things’, it’s hard to stay relevant and grow.
I remember going to the Chartered Institute of Fundraising Convention around 2009. Fundraising felt harder than before. Cost per acquisition was up and volumes of new recruits were down. The public less receptive to our asks.
Since then, the sector has battled its way through terrible press coverage, damning reports, regulation change, economic and political uncertainty and a global pandemic. And yet, I still go to conventions and hear people having the same conversations.
We must innovate now to stay relevant
It’s 2024. We’ve talked about the decline in our key channels for fifteen years. The world has changed immeasurably in that time. But has our fundraising?
We need to innovate now, because charities are needed more than ever. In many ways, the world feels harder, crueler, than it did. Our sector has been thrown into crisis after crisis, and many charities are stuck in response mode. The way out is innovation. It’s how we’ll grow. So we need to prioritise it.
A lot of charities are. More and more trustees seem to get it. Arguably, there has never been a more diverse range of asks and offers in the market from charities. But there are still a lot of charities with strategies that have innovation as the last pillar – that thing we’ll tackle once we’ve got ‘the basics’ working.
Innovation is often positioned as a ‘nice to have’ or, worse still, a reward to be earned.
Right now, I’d put it first. Because after everything that has changed, for charities, for audiences, in culture and technology, incremental tweaks to our programmes aren’t enough. Fine-tuning your fundraising isn’t going to deliver transformative growth. We talk about doing things differently – but we need to do different things.
It takes insight and foresight. It takes open minds and culture shifts and investment of time or money (ideally both). The charities I have seen in significant growth over the last ten years have been those taking innovation seriously. They have found their audience and listened to them. They’ve given themselves space away from that ‘efficiency engine’ to give their audience something different.
Innovation done well is a rigorous process
That’s why I want to focus on innovation, too. It’s why I’ve joined the experts at Flying Cars, so I can spend my time working with the bold, smart, well supported teams who are ready for change. With robust insight, inspiring ideation and a thorough prototyping process we can take ideas to market that get results.
Innovation isn’t a stab in the dark, a wildcard idea, or a gamble with your investment. Not when it’s done right. It’s a rigorous process that delivers, time and time again. Not innovating – doing the same old things and hoping the results will be different – that’s the biggest risk.
With the world as it is today, I’ve never been more glad that our sector is full of bold, curious, hopeful people. The vital services and the compassionate voice of our sector are needed more than ever.
I feel privileged to work with you to grow those services and amplify that voice. In 2024, let’s challenge ourselves. Let’s listen to and learn from supporters. Let’s do new things.
How can we help?
To chat about how we can help you get unstuck with an innovation challenge or have an idea you can't get off the ground? Join us for a virtual coffee.
Take our free Charity Fundraising Innovation Quiz. It takes just 6 minutes. You'll get a fully customised report with loads of tips.
Want to know how to build an innovative culture? Read 5 ways to build a successful innovation team